Why Nuggets rookie Evan Fournier will play in NBA and not overseas

Evan Fournier (pronounced Forn-yay, which rhymes with my 37th-favorite rapper, Rappin’ 4-Tay), is here in Denver. There was talk about him playing in his native France this season, but Nuggets executive Masai Ujiri has his first-round pick in the states (in fact, to quote “Old School,” in the Sunshine State).

Ujiri explained why the shooting guard, who won’t play much for this deep Denver squad, won’t play overseas:

“My experience with European players is, skill-wise, they’re good. They learn those skills at an early age, but part of where they struggle here is their strength and conditioning and ability of NBA players. We felt if we sent Fournier back to Europe, we’d be putting him a year behind. He needs to adapt to the speed of the game and get stronger.

“We have players, so that gave us room to have him on our roster. Whether he and (second-round pick) Quincy Miller spend time in the D-League or (stay with Denver) and we develop them, both of them need to get stronger. Their skills are how we want to play. And Fournier can be here to learn in practice and maybe even a couple minutes in games.”

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.